I Should Tell You
by My First Kliss
Summary: This is a spin off of Rent, the lovely musical, with Glee characters and dialogue instead of singing. Kurt/Blaine, Wes/David, Nick/Jeff. If you love Rent and/or Klaine, you should definitely read. For those of you who don't know Rent, it's about a group of friends in NYC with AIDS and their struggles.


_I Should Tell You_

_A Very Glee Rent_

_Disclaimer: I don't own Glee and I don't own Rent, although I do really, really love both. _

_If you are familiar with Rent at all, this chapter would be the songs 'Rent' and 'You'll See' but obviously since this is not a screen play, there will be no singing. Enjoy! (:_

It was cold. Like, really cold. Not even the usual New York weather cold but the kind of cold that chilled you down to the bone, even if you had the heater as high as it would go and were under five thick, wool blankets. It was really that cold. And Blaine didn't even have five thick wool blankets between him and his roommate, let alone five thick wool blankets that he could have all to himself. And their heat didn't work all that well. Which might've had something to do with the fact that heat rises and they had holes in the ceiling. Blaine curled his legs up on the couch and absentmindedly plucked at his guitar, listening to the whine of the chords. His stomach was really aching and he tried to recall the last time he'd eaten. Sometime yesterday he was pretty sure. He looked down at his guitar and frowned. He hadn't moved for hours. He'd just contented himself to lie on the couch, and brood. _'Just like every other day.' _

That wasn't fair. Most people hadn't suffered such traumas by the time they were only eighteen. It was a normal reaction to want to lie on your couch and play your guitar and brood. _'Yeah, but not a year later.' _Sometimes Blaine had a sneaking suspicion that as much as he missed him, and god yes, he missed him so much that it hurt, he was only using what happened as an excuse to sit around, shutting out his friends and feeling sorry for himself. Because it was easier than going out and facing the world. Facing the world wasn't easy for anyone. However, for someone with AIDS… Well, it was a little bit more difficult. Even if you were feeling fine and weren't feverish or sick or exhausted, you still had that daunting thought that you were _dying_. What did it matter what you did when seconds of your life were ticking away? You wouldn't be sticking around to remember it. Why bother to spend time with the people you loved? You were only going to leave them forever. Why continue with your dreams and aspirations? You probably didn't have enough time left to achieve them.

The only thing Blaine hated about isolating himself was time alone with his thoughts. That was the last thing that he wanted, was to _analyze his feelings. _It was like Chinese water torture, he just didn't want to do it. However, that particular night Blaine's time with his thoughts was cut short when the lights abruptly shut off, leaving him alone in the darkness. What the hell? He tossed down his guitar and got to his feet, striding over to the control panel on the wall and toggling the switches. Nothing. He could feel the cold air permeating and could no longer hear the obnoxiously loud buzz of the heater, which was complete shit but was still better than nothing.

"GODDAMNIT." Blaine cursed loudly, slamming the control panel door shut and stomping back through the house, searching for matches and candles, anything he could light and get any warmth from. He saw a few composition books lying on the end table; those would make perfect fodder for fire. Where was Rachel? She was supposed to have been back at least thirty minutes ago!

At almost that exact moment, Rachel burst through the door, her black heels scuffing the hardwood as she took angry and determined steps. "What the fuck?" she demanded, as Blaine proceeded to dump the composition books into a large metal trashcan and tossing in a match, watching everything go up in flames.

"Our power got turned off." Blaine replied, rubbing his hands together over the fire before returning to lighting every ten-cent candle they owned.

"This reeks of Sebastian. Only he would do something as sadistic and cruel as turning off our power in the middle of winter!" Rachel huddled closer to the fire, wrapping her arms around herself.

Blaine tugged his thin denim jacket tighter around himself as he grabbed every paper in sight, tossing it into the flaming trash can in front of him before looking at Rachel, his best friend and room mate and nodding his head. "I know, on Christmas Eve, of all nights!" he shivered, chucking an old romance novel in as well. It had been bad anyway. He was so cold, he felt like an ice cube. It was a harsh winter and their apartment had no insulation so without heat they might as well have been living in a freezer. "And you've seen the eviction notices right? How could anyone miss them? There's at least ten of them posted on every street lamp, door, and car in sight!"

"There was one plastered on the front door even!" Rachel exclaimed, looking at an old phonebook before dropping it into the flames.

"Rach, Blaine! Hey! Throw down a key!" A voice wafted up from below in the noisy and chaotic streets.

"Is that David?" Blaine asked, peering towards the windows. David was one of their best friends and their old roommate. He'd lived with them for a couple of years while attending Julliard. After graduating, he'd taken a job at MIT so they hadn't seen him in nearly seven months.

"Yeah, it's about time too!" Rachel grabbed the key off the counter top and ran to the window, opening it and climbing out onto the fire escape. She felt the cold wind sting her face as she leaned over the railing to see David standing in the street, bundled up in a t-shirt, a flannel, and an overcoat. He looked up at her and grinned. She smiled back and tossed down the key before flouncing back inside to help Blaine keep the fire going.

David caught the key with ease and shook his head as a few people ran down the sidewalk with flaming eviction papers, screaming and cursing at the top of their lungs. Man, it was good to be home. Boston was nice, very historical and they did have fantastic coffee, but he had missed New York and missed his friends. Besides, he hadn't found a special somebody back in Boston or made any close friends even, so it had been pretty lonely. He'd been hoping to maybe find somebody nice to settle down with, or at least somebody to get a few drinks with after work, but the other professors and disliked him and disdained him for his anarchical views, and he hadn't had much luck in the bars or clubs, everyone there was just looking for a good couple of hours.

"You got a light?"

David turned mid-step to see a few guys leering at him. "Sure." He replied, reaching into his jacket pocket hesitantly. He may have left for seven months, but that didn't mean he'd forgotten how treacherous it could be in The Big Apple. However, he tried to never be cynical or jaded. So if somebody asked him for a light, he would give them the benefit of the doubt and try to give them a light. Maybe these guys really did just want a light for their cigarette, maybe they were nice guys just like him who just wanted to teach their theories and find a life partner in peace. Or maybe they were-

Before David could even finish that thought, one of the guys lunged at him. He jumped back and heard one of the other guys yell, "GET HIM!" He turned and took off in a full blown run, not even daring to look back. He charged through the city streets, which were littered with broken glass and old cans and unimaginable amounts of junk, as well as bits of burning debris. The cold air was whipping around him, freezing his lungs as he breathed. He turned down a side alley, trying to escape his pursuers, hoping they would grow tired and give up. It was pitch black and all of the noises were beginning to blend together. He tripped on something and fell painfully to the ground, trying to scramble away but it was too late. They were on him as soon he was down. He cried out when he felt a foot connect with his ribcage. He squeezed his eyes shut and curled up, trying to protect his stomach from another blow. He was roughly pulled to his feet as his pockets were quickly searched and his duffle bag was jerked away from him. That bag had all his clothes and the few possessions he had in it! He wasn't even given a moment to process that before he was held against the wall and punched in the stomach, and then dropped back to the ground. He groaned at the pain, which was blinding and mind numbing. He could vaguely feel somebody peel his jacket off, leaving him to curl up on the cold, hard, damp concrete. The three hooligans ran away hollering and laughing, gloating to one another about their new possessions. David had been down on his luck quite a few times, but he had never reduced himself to stealing someone's jacket and leaving them to freeze and bleed in a deserted alley. He hugged his knees to his chest and violently shivered, his teeth chattering. He brought up his hand to wipe at his nose, blood smearing on his finger. He tried to wipe it on his sleeve but his hand was shaking too badly. He slumped up against the wall and groaned, gasping for a few deep breaths, even though the frigid air burned his lungs. He shut his eyes and let himself sink into the blackness. He was so cold…

"Pay rent? _Pay rent?_" Rachel was pacing back and forth, cussing beneath her breath, her curls bouncing with every step she took, "I can't believe him, he's really crossing a line that he DOES NOT want to cross! And where the hell is David? I threw him down the key twenty minutes ago!" Rachel pushed past Blaine to the balcony, seeing flames littering the streets and angry tenants rampaging and causing a raucous before her eyes landed on the reason their power was off on Christmas Eve. "Come on Blaine, we have a visitor." She growled, grabbing his arm and dragging him towards the door. She was so pissed. This was low, even for him. It was bad enough he had sold out for money and a loveless marriage and totally abandoned them, especially when Blaine was such a wreck and was practically catatonic, but to completely stab them in the back and turn off their fucking power? Hell no.

Blaine followed Rachel out of the apartment building, frowning when he saw Sebastian leaning against his jet black Navigator. It was enough to make him sick. If someone had told him two years ago that Sebastian would be shutting off their power on Christmas Eve and demanding they pay rent and driving a fucking _Navigator_, he would've laughed them into the next century. Yet here they were. Sebastian was off living in Manhattan, abandoning all his old values and selling out all his old friends, and Blaine was still living in the same crappy apartment, unable to finish a damn song and listening to Rachel whine about everything and nothing at the same time.

"You turned off our power? You turned off our _fucking power _on _fucking Christmas Eve_? Are you _fucking _kidding me?" Rachel yelled, her black-gloved hands on her hips as she glared her fiercest up at Sebastian who merely chuckled and shook his head.

"Hey you guys, long time no see." Sebastian smirked, joining them on the sidewalk and stuffing his hands into the pockets of his gray pea coat, which probably cost more than everything Blaine and Rachel owned put together, "Miss me?"

"Miss you? I don't even know who you are." Blaine spat, grabbing Rachel and holding her close since all she was wearing was teal tights, black high-heeled boots, a tight black filmy dress they'd salvaged from Goodwill, and a thin grey cardigan. "The Sebastian that I knew had values and would never screw over his friends like this. How's that sham of a marriage going for you? I hope it was worth giving up having people in your life who actually cared about you." Blaine glared at Sebastian, feeling a vehemence towards him that had been buried deep for the past year. Sebastian had up and left when Blaine had needed him the most, to marry some wealthy woman who, he very obviously didn't love.

Sebastian laughed and shook his head. "Not having to live in a crowded, shit apartment freezing my ass off while listening to you as you whined about not being able to write a song and listening to Rachel bitch about her failed Broadway career? Not having to hear Jeff's obnoxious renditions at three A.M. or having to quiz David on some implausible Aristotle theory? Not having to live off of ten-cent Ramen noodles and stale bread? Yeah, I'd say it was worth it." Sebastian looked at the posters that were lining the building and rolled his eyes, grabbing one and ripping it off.

Blaine growled, tightening his grip on Rachel's shoulders. She reached up and comfortingly took one of his hands, leaning into him and shivering. "It's okay." She whispered to Blaine, squeezing his hand lightly since her fingers were numb.

"You used to be our friend Sebastian. We lived together. Do you even remember that?" Blaine asked, watching as Sebastian ripped down all of the posters they'd taped up.

"Me, you, Rachel, David, and Jeff all living in a two bedroom apartment with no running water half the time and not a cumulative penny to our names? How could I forget?" Sebastian scoffed then looked at Rachel, who was shivering in Blaine's arms. "Where is the little drama queen by the way? Jeff, that is. Are you still managing his "up and coming" music career?"

"Umm. No. We had… creative differences." Rachel replied stiffly, fiddling with a button on her cardigan.

"Are you still dating him?" Sebastian asked, looking at the bleach blonde's photo which was plastered on all of the posters, advertising a protest he was going to be holding in just a couple of days, in which he'd no doubt be scantily clad and… well, there wasn't really word to accurately describe Jeff, short of "prima donna".

"No." Rachel said sourly, scowling at the posters, which served as a constant reminder of the love that had once been and would never be again.

"Ooooh, you got dumped? What's her name?" Sebastian teased Rachel as he wadded up the posters and tossed them into a nearby trash bin.

"Nick." Rachel and Blaine answered simultaneously. Blaine broke into a fit of giggles, causing Rachel to elbow him in the stomach, shooting him a dirty look, which only made him laugh harder.

Sebastian gave them a confused look for a moment before he got wide eyed and burst out laughing. "Oh, so Jeff's a little light in the loafers these days?" he subsided himself to a few more chuckles and smirked at Rachel. He tore down a few more posters than wiped his hands off on his black Armani dress pants.

Blaine laughed a bit more, unable to help himself, wrapping Rachel tighter in his arms, even though she smacked him multiple times. "If you came here to notify us that we're to pay rent, which we aren't doing by the way, even if we had the money to, and to make fun of Rachel's unfortunate dating predicament, as funny as it is, you can just be on your merry way now."

"No, that's not why I came here. I came here to give you a proposition. I'll revoke the eviction and you can stay here, rent-free. You just have to do one little thing." Sebastian told them, holding a poster in his hands and looking down at it

"What?"

"Convince Jeff to cancel his protest."

"What?" Rachel exploded, pulling away from Blaine's embrace to stomp over closer to where Sebastian was standing, "Cancel his protest? What the hell? I doubt he would've listened to me when we were together, let alone now."

"Besides, Jeff is our friend. That actually means something to us. And this protest means a lot to him. He's trying to do what he thinks is right. Some people actually refuse to sell out their values for cold hard cash." Blaine followed behind Rachel, glaring at Sebastian.

"Hey, before you go all holier than thou on me, think about it. You guys dream about Broadway and writing songs, how exactly do you propose to do that with no place to live?" Sebastian couldn't help but feel a tiny bit bad. They had been his best friends for a long time and they'd helped him through many a rough time and probably knew him better then his wife did. But they were bringing this on themselves. They always had been an obstinate lot, he wouldn't be surprised if they were refusing simply to spite him.

"Are you seriously that desperate to cancel Jeff's protest? Why don't you just get an injunction? Or call the cops?" Rachel asked in exasperation. She didn't understand what the big deal was. This was so stereotypically Sebastian, to flip his shit about absolutely nothing.

"I did. They're on stand-by. But it would be much easier for everyone and look a lot better if this protest was put down quietly. My investors would prefer it." Sebastian wrinkled his nose and scuffed the sidewalk with his shiny black shoes, trying to scrape the grime off of them.

"You mean your father-in-law?" Blaine countered, earning a dirty look from Sebastian who ignored him.

"Besides! You can't quietly wipe out an entire tent city and then watch 'It's A Wonderful Life' on TV!" Rachel yelled, looking up at Sebastian through her long lashes.

"We're going to clean this place up and make it reputable. Make things of actual value. Now you two can stay around and watch your dreams come to life and enjoy it if you get Jeff to cancel his protest… Or you can pack." With those parting words, Sebastian turned on his heel and headed back to his Navigator, which was currently being accosted by a dirty homeless man with a windshield cleaner.

Rachel slowly turned around and looked at Blaine, biting her lip as angry tears welled up in her eyes. "Blaine… What are we going to do?" she asked, wiping at her eyes and smudging her eyeliner a bit.

"Hey, it'll be okay. Sebastian's full of shit. Just forget about it." Blaine wrapped his arms around her and pulled her in close to his chest, kissing the top of her head, "We'll be okay. I promise."

Rachel nodded and sniffled, relaxing into Blaine's eyes and clutching his jacket with her pale fingers. She swayed gently in his arms, vaguely aware of the humdrum of noises around them and the frigid air. "David still hasn't shown up… Do you think he's okay?" she asked, a little bit worried about their friend. New York could be a very nasty place, especially at night, especially in Alphabet City.

"Yeah, yeah… I'm sure he's fine." Blaine tried to comfort Rachel, although he couldn't deny that he was a bit worried himself. He knew David could handle himself, but he usually had a tendency to be a bit too trusting at times. He didn't want Rachel to be any more upset then she already was though, he hated seeing her cry. "Why don't we go upstairs and wait in there and try to find some stuff for the fire? You can have the last of the coffee and I even think we have some Splenda that I snagged from a diner last week… The real stuff too, not the knock off!" Blaine joked in attempts to at least make Rachel smile. She gave him a small and sweet smile, leaning into him as he wrapped his arm around her and led her back inside to their icebox of an apartment. Hopefully David would turn up sometime before dawn…

David had managed to even out his breathing but he was still shivering and his body was aching all over. The idea of getting up and trudging all the way back to Blaine and Rachel's apartment sounded like torture. He would just sit against the cold, hard brick wall for a while longer, thanks very much.

"Oh my, honey, are you okay?"

David looked up when a soft voice interrupted his thoughts to see who was speaking to him. His eyes landed on a petite Asian guy with long, sweeping eyelashes, tattered clothing, and a sweet demeanor. David blinked a few times, trying to figure out what he was even being asked. Was he… okay? "Oh… Yeah, I'm okay." David winced when he attempted to get to his feet, gripping at the brick wall. The pretty stranger extended a thin hand, which David stared at for a second before accepting the help to his feet and smiling though it probably came across as more of a grimace. "Thank you." He shuffled his feet, feeling his nose and seeing blood on his hand. Damn it.

"I'm Wes." The stranger told him, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a handkerchief and handing it to David.

David dabbed at his nose gently with the borrowed handkerchief. He couldn't remember the last time that a stranger had been so kind to him. Hell, the people he worked with in Boston hadn't been this kind to him and they were his _co-workers. _"I'm David." He was beginning to feel just a little bit uneasy on his feet and the ground looked so comforting… He wobbled slightly until Wes wrapped an arm around his waist to stop him from crashing to the ground.

"Come on, let's get you cleaned up. We'll have to hurry though, I have a Life Support meeting to go to." Wes told him softly, helping him slowly stagger out of the alley. He didn't have much to offer or much help to give, moments ago he had been playing a bucket as a makeshift drum just to earn a few quarters. However, he couldn't bear to just leave this poor man to lie on the grimy city streets, hurt and alone.

"Life Support?" David asked, trying to support most of his own weight and not slump completely onto Wes.

"It's for people with AIDS… People like me." Wes was not ashamed that he had AIDS. It was sad and tragic and difficult and heart wrenching, sure. But shameful? No, it wasn't shameful. It was a disease. Not a punishment from God.

David was quiet for a moment, letting Wes's words sink in. He'd never met someone who was so upfront about having HIV. Various things popped into his head when he heard the word _AIDS_, most of them things people had said to him. _'AIDS are God's way to punish homosexuals.' 'Of course you got AIDS, David. You choose to have sex with men. You're really surprised?' _He usually didn't care too much what people said, but when it was his family… Well, it bothered him a bit. "Yeah, me too." He finally said quietly.

Wes was a bit startled at the confession but he merely smiled at David, not feeling the need to say anything. Wes was a big believer in 'Whatever happens, happens.' So he never attempted to plan his life. But with one more glance at David, he thought it would be rather nice to have someone to share it with.

_Well, that's it for the first chapter. Next chapter would be the songs One Song Glory and Light My Candle, which means the first appearance of another main character. I hope you enjoyed, review if you so desire. ^.^ _


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